Jay Bruce was the No. 1 prospect in baseball entering the 2008 season. At the time, he was considered one of the best minor leaguer players the Cincinnati Reds had ever had. In 2007, Bruce flew through three levels of the Reds’ farm system, batting .319 between Advanced-A (Sarasota), Double-A (Chattanooga), and Triple-A (Louisville).
If Jay Bruce’s story sounds familiar to Reds fans, it should. After tearing apart minor league pitching in 2007, everyone expected him to make an appearance in Cincinnati before the season’s end. That did not happen. In the spring, fans were hoping that he would beat out a veteran for a starting spot with the team.